This page is referenced by:

• 1 2016-05-09T10:47:47-07:00 Dr. Seuss and Environmental Messages 3 Analysis by Hannah Schramka image_header 267806 2016-06-02T13:46:28-07:00           Going by the pseudonym, Dr. Seuss, Theodor Seuss Geisel, March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991, became America’s beloved child fiction author (Biography.com Editors).  From And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street to Cat In The Hat, his books are still published, sold, given as gifts, adapted to movies and musicals, and loved by children and adults today.  His popularity, fueled by the charismatic illustrations, made up words, and flowing rhymes give Geisel’s books an everlasting charm.  But before his fame, he attended Dartmouth College where he joined Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity and was the editor in chief for the humorous, Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern Magazine (Biography.com Editors).  After an incident of on campus drinking during Prohibition, he was asked to leave all extracurricular activities.  However, with a passion to write, Geisel began using the pen name “Seuss” (Biography.com Editors).  With the encouragement from Professor Benfield Pressey, Geisel graduated Dartmouth in 1925 and headed to University of Oxford to intending to earn his PhD in English Literature (Wikipedia).  Instead, he pursued his passion of drawing and gave up on his PhD at Oxford to become an illustrator and cartoonist at Vanity Fair and Life magazines (Wikipedia).  After, he started drawing political cartoons for the New York newspaper, PM.  With the skills and practice from Vanity Fair, Life and PM, he wrote his first child fiction book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, a story of a young boy, Marco, describing an imaginary parade full of wild people and fantastic vehicles.  Although not a huge success, he continued publishing child fiction books.  In 1954, William Ellsworth Spaulding, the director of the education division at Houghton Mifflin, challenged Geisel to write a book that children would adore but would also learn due to the included 250 specific words of the 348 words Spaulding felt every child should know.  Nine months later, Geisel published The Cat in the Hat (Nel, Philip).  The important success led to more child fiction books such as Green Eggs and Ham, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish and The Lorax.
  
            Due to his political cartoonist career, many of Geisel’s books have an underlying political message.  Horton Hears a Who!, one of his most successful books, focuses on conformity, Yertle the Turtle address that every creature should be free and The Lorax supports environmentalism.  Focusing on The Lorax, Geisel poetically illustrates, beautifully depicts and interestingly expresses the epidemic of pollution, the importance of a healthy ecosystem and the balance of nature and life.  Published during the environmental movement and just before the first anniversary of Earth Day, The Lorax’s political message inspired.  While this is Dr. Seuss’ only environmental work, The Lorax fits into Geisel’s child fiction-writing career because it continues the trend of addressing political concerns subtly through children’s books. The Lorax is important to Dr. Seuss’ work because it is a classic example of green literature.  As a child fiction short story, it exemplifies the qualities to support environmental literature.
  
  The Lorax: A Work of Green Literature
  
            Through novels, short stories, and poems, literature work constantly dissects moral, ethical and philosophical conflicts through the use of writing styles, powerful syntax and important themes. Children’s and Young Adult Literature also use similar influential conflicts to create a story and support an issue.  The Lorax, written by Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, centers on the theme of environmental extinction due to the industrialization of civilization.  Using his standard poetic, rhythmic made-up word writing style, Dr. Seuss illustrates a human man named Once-ler venturing out in seek of the best tree.  Once he finds this tree, the Truffula Tree, he begins to invent and make Thneeds, out of it.  When Once-ler begins chopping down trees, the lorax, a creature who speaks for nature, explains to him the repercussions of chopping down too many trees. However, Once-ler ignores his pleas and soon enough Once-ler has used all the trees to build all his Thneeds.  With all the trees gone and manufacturing buildings polluting the air, the animals must leave.  The Lorax illustrates the possibility of humans using too much of nature and creating a polluted world.  Environmentalism focused literature represents a broad genre known as green literature.  This broad topic covers a vast range of novels, short stories and poems all encompassing the same general themes, however, remaining uniquely different.  Published in August of 1971, during the environmental revolution and shortly after the fist celebration of Earth Day, The Lorax continued with Dr. Seuss’ creative writing style as well as included past techniques he used in his political cartoons to support the new fad of “going green”.  In order to qualify as green literature, the wok must generally educate and illustrate environmentalism, highlight the complicated relationship between humans and nature, represent the common theme of respecting and admiring the value of nature as well as excite and inspire the audience to think and act environmentally.  Through the poetic words, rhythmic flow, imaginary characters and the story as a whole, The Lorax exemplifies the qualities to represent green literature.
  
            In some manner, a green literature work must educate and inform the reader of environmentalism.  The Lorax educates children about ecosystems, the idea of anthropocene, and the human-nature relationship.  Beginning with ecosystems, Dr. Seuss educates the audience by illustrating the animals depending on the Truffula Trees.  Once the Once-ler begins chopping, the animals begin leaving.   The lorax explains:
  
            I am the Lorax who speaks for the trees
            which you seem to be chopping as fast as you please.
            But I’m also in charge of the Brown Bar-ba-loots
            who played in the shade in their Bar-ba-loots suits
            and happily lived, eating Truffula Fruits.
            NOW… thanks to your hacking my trees to the ground,
            there’s not enough Truffula Fruit to go ‘round.
            And my poor Bar-ba-loots are all getting the crummies
            because they have gas, and no food, in their tummies!
            They loved living here. But I can’t let them stay.
            They’ll have to find food. And I hope that they may (Dr. Seuss)
  
  And similarly, the Swomee-Swans and Humming Fish must leave due to the pollution destroying the environment, illustrating nature’s interdependent process.  Even as the lorax comes each week to explain the damage from the Once-ler, he coughs and croaks because of the pollution and collapsing ecosystem.  Replacing the trees with machinery creates chaos for the little valley, and Dr. Seuss’ illustrations mirror similar conflicts and issues humans experience today.  It is important to recognize and understand the message Dr. Seuss articulates to children. 
  
            Dr. Seuss also illustrates the greed of the Once-ler in which consumes him and allows him to continue to destroy the environment.  The greed and dominance the Once-ler had over the lorax and nature illustrates anthropocene, the issue that begins when human actions start to have significant impacts on the Earth’s environment.  Dr. Seuss illustrates that the Once-ler is “crazy with greed” and as the Bar-ba-loots left, he writes:
             
            the old Once-ler, felt sad
            as [he] watched them all go
            BUT…
            Business is business
            And business must grow
  
            Regardless of crummies in tummies, you know (Dr. Seuss)
  The Lorax educates children on the value of the environment and supports environmentalism.  By highlighting the affects humans have towards the world, stressing the complicated relationship between humans and nature, and emphasizing the role of greed in destruction, Dr. Seuss educates children on environmentalism and therefore qualifies this short story as green literature.  However, Dr. Seuss not only illustrates the current negative relationship humans have with nature, but also subtly suggests the true and healthy connection.  Humans and nature can coexist, according to Dr. Seuss, by changing greed to compassion; “UNLESS someone like you / cares a whole awful lot, / nothing is going to get better. / It’s not” (Dr. Suess).
  
            Although all green literature does not illustrate nature as pastoral or relaxing, the work’s underlying message must respect and admire the value of nature.  The Lorax uses nature’s value as a central theme for the short story.  To Dr. Seuss, nature is a highly valued system in our lives and he depicts that through his descriptions of the animals and nature, especially the Truffula Trees.  Upon finding the Truffula Trees, the Once-ler explains:
  
              All my life I’d been searching
              For trees such as these
              The touch of their tufts
              Was much softer than silk.
              And they had the sweet smell
              Of fresh butterfly milk (Dr. Seuss)
  
  This line is critical to the short story analysis because it highlights the beauty of nature.  Completing this beautiful image of beauty, Dr. Seuss also illustrates a life without nature at the end of the story after all the trees are gone.  The beautiful valley the Once-ler came across ended, smeared and tarnished with black dust and dirt.  Without nature, the world was no longer beautiful. From the beginning to the end, the Lorax is constantly asking the Once-ler to respect the trees and constantly placing emphasis on the importance of nature to life.  The story as a whole exemplifies how nature is an incredibly important asset to our world.  While the Once-ler once believed that “[he] chopped just one tree. / [He was] doing no harm” (Dr. Seuss), he did not understand the magnitude of his actions.  He did not understand the importance of just one tree.  Because Dr. Seuss values nature, he attempts to articulate and explain the power of just one tree chopped down.
  
            Green literature illustrates nature in a specific manner that commonly inspires the audience to think and act environmentally. In The Lorax, Dr. Seuss’ creative writing style, with unique made up words and rhythmic flow, inspire environmentalism at a child fiction story level.  Beginning the short story, Dr. Seuss introduces an intriguing, made-up land, “At the far end of town / where the Grickle Grass grows” (Dr. Seuss), provoking an interest to the child reader by promoting travel and an experience with nature.  Although made up, to a child, this opening line grabs his or her attention and sparks creativity.  This line is important to the introduction because it sets the tone as interesting and environmental.  According to Margaret J. King’s article, “The Audience in The Wilderness: The Disney Nature Films”, our society has lost touch with experiencing nature.  King argues because we have lost touch with experiencing nature, we fail to understand nature.  Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax promotes children to experience nature and ultimately invites them to think and act environmentally.  Using imaginary characters such as the lorax, fictional animals like the Swomee-Swans and Bar-ba-loots, and imaginary trees like the Truffula Tree, Dr. Seuss grabs the child’s attention and inspires him or her to admire creatures and animals of nature.  Furthermore, when the Once-ler sees the Truffula Trees, “[He] felt a great leaping / of joy in [his] heart” (Dr. Seuss), illustrating the value Dr. Seuss attempts to emphasize toward nature.  By illustrating Once-ler’s the love, Dr. Seuss demonstrates a love of nature children can reciprocate.  Reading about the Once-ler seeing the Truffula Tree makes children want to find a Truffula Tree, want to experience nature by acting and thinking environmentally.  Throughout the short story, the imaginary animals descriptions and illustrations illuminate interest toward nature and therefore support environmentalism.  At the end of the story, Dr. Seuss invites children to act environmentally.  The old Once-ler explains there is still time to undo his mistake:
  
            You’re in charge of the last of the Truffula Seeds
            And Truffula Trees are what everyone needs.
            Plant a new Truffula. Treat it with care.
            Give it clean water. And feed it fresh air.
            Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack.
            Then the Lorax
            And all his friends
            May come back (Dr. Seuss)
  
  Dr. Seuss obviously supports environmental actions and attempts to inspire children to do so too.  The Lorax inspires and excites children about nature and therefore prompts them to act and think environmentally.  These closing lines are crucial to this short story as a work of green literature because they illustrate and promote the environmental message of interacting and experiencing nature.
   
  
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
                                                              Work Cited
  
  Biography.com Editors. “Dr. Seuss Biography.” Bio.com A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web.           16 Mar. 2016.
  
  “Dr. Seuss.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 16
           King, Margaret J. “The Audience in The Wilderness: The Disney Nature Films.” Journal of  Popular Film and Television 24.2                    (1996): 60-68. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 23 Feb. 2016
  
  Nel, Philip. “Dr. Seuss & Mr. Geisel: A Biography.” Choice Reviews Online33.02 (1995): n.pag. Web. 16 Mar. 2016
  
  “Political Messages of Dr. Seuss.” Wikipedia. N.p., Web. 15 Mar. 2016